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They hit the streets after midnight, in all five boroughs, after most stores close and have put out their trash. Digging through the garbage on a nightly basis,they often find pounds of produce and loaves of bread. These urban foragers are not homeless, they are Freegans, and this is their choice.

Working odd jobs to pay their minimal rent, Freegans claim to survive entirely on items they find in the trash. They have scoured the city for years and know the best places to go for clothing, building materials and the freshest food.

Jean Pockrus, a recent graduate of the $50,000 a year Wesleyan University, became a Freegan for a number of reasons. She reduces her carbon footprint, reduces waste, does not participate in a consumer-driven culture and boycotts corporate power. She also claims to eat a healthier diet than most.

It is “People who eat at restaurants [that] get food poisoning,” Freegan Quinn Hechtkopf told the Post. Try swallowing that.

See what we found in the trash with our Freegan guides, find out why they do not wear gloves, and see the one brave New Yorker who took her first bite out of the trash for us, in our “Dumpster Diving for Dinner” video.